Sri Lanka v England – Unlucky Olly Stone ready to put injury woes behind him and seal pace role

Stone made his England debut against Ireland in 2019 and acquitted himself well enough to believe he might have a roll in the subsequent Ashes series.

A stress fracture of the back – his second of the year – ensured that would not be possible, while further fitness problems took him out of contention for long stretches of the 2020 season.

Aged 27, the Warwickshire paceman has managed just 38 first-class matches in eight-and-a-half years but has the physical stature and genuine speed that have kept him on the selectors’ radar.

And tomorrow, in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, he is expected to return to England whites, taking the pace baton from Mark Wood.

“It has been frustrating – there’s been times when you question if it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

“But then you think ‘yeah, of course it is’. It has been hard, but I guess you’ve just got to get people around who help support you. My family, girlfriend and friends have been vital. Picking up injuries along the way isn’t ideal. It is going to happen as a fast bowler but you try to minimise those.

“I love playing cricket, I love playing cricket for England and hopefully there’s many more years of that to come.”

With Jofra Archer rested from the tour and Wood having provided a point of difference in the first Test by regularly topping 90mph, there is no question what will be asked of Stone should he make the XI.

While the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes are all vying for nagging spells of seam bowling, he will be asked to bend his back on a pitch highly likely to be set up for spin.

“I guess we always thought coming out here that spinners would play the attacking role but it’s a challenge that we all look forward to as fast bowlers,” he said. “Although the pitches aren’t friendly, if you can get the breakthrough and do that holding role you can add to the attack.

“There will be times when you have to do the hard yards but it’s something we love doing.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews urged his team-mates to watch and learn from England captain, Joe Root.

England hold a 1-0 lead heading into the final Test, with Root’s superb double century a major factor. His ability to negate the spin, play late off the back foot and sweep with authority was an exemplary case of sub-continental batsmanship from a man brought up playing his game on the out-grounds of Sheffield.

And Mathews suggested the home team should take their cues from him, even if they cannot mimic every stroke.

“We can learn a lot from he way Joe Root batted,” said Mathews. “You have to find that tempo, especially in these conditions.

“Some of the shots Root played, we can’t play. We need to be able to understand what we can and can’t do on these wickets against their bowlers. It’s not about being conservative – you always have to look to score runs – but you need to understand how you can score runs off these bowlers and in these conditions.”

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